 Photo courtesy MetroCreative You know who is going to thank you for serving lobster as the main dish this Thanksgiving?
Turkeys and Maine lobstermen. With everything up against Maine’s lobstermen lately (as discussed in our recent blog on the mounting challenges facing the lobster industry) and the biggest price drop seen in years, this is the year to switch up your traditional Thanksgiving menu. As the first Thanksgiving meal eaten by pilgrims in November, 1621, it’s wholly appropriate to serve lobster as the main dish or as one of the sides. We have included a few recipes below. If you live in Maine buy lobster directly from a lobsterman or from a reputable seafood store. Or if you live out of state, buy them online from a sustainable fishmonger like Luke’s Lobster or Maine Lobster Now. Main Dish: Stuffed Lobster Tails A more sophisticated (and lighter calorie) main dish uses stuffed lobster tails in place of the traditional bird with one tail per person. This video shows you the most humane way to dispatch a lobster and this tutorial shows you how to separate the tail from the body and butterfly the meat. The Thanksgiving flavors come out when stuffed with herbed breadcrumbs and drizzled with white wine reduction, as described by Cooking Light’s Executive Food Editor Ann Pittman. Broil one to two minutes and drizzle with sauce. Get The Full Recipe Side: Lobster Stuffing Instead of traditional stuffing—let lobster take center stage! Combine center-cut bacon, one loaf sesame semolina bread cut into half-inch cubes, and seven ounces of fresh-picked lobster meat. With sautéed yellow onion and garlic lending a savory fragrance to this dish, a little lobster goes a long way in this comfort dish, serving eight people. Get The Full Recipe Side: Lobster Mashed Potato Talk about decadent! This will be the dish your guests dig into the most. Start with a 1½ pound boiled lobster—and save the stock. After shelling and chopping up the meat, put some of the shells in a new pot of boiling water with 1½ pounds of chopped Yukon Gold potatoes to enrich the flavor. The additional step of lightly browning the cooked lobster meat in butter adds a rich layer to traditional mashed potatoes. Get The Full Recipe Side: Green Bean and Lobster Casserole Lobster is like the little black dress of the culinary world—it can be dressed up and accessorized with just about any food. In this case, with a plain old green bean casserole, it’s not just a side dish—it’s a statement. This side calls for two cups of fresh, sliced green beans, ½ cup button mushrooms, and 1 pound cooked lobster meat. Layer in a can of cream of mushroom soup with the crunch of Ritz crackers and fried onions, and you’re good to go. Get The Full Recipe This Thanksgiving, put lobster on the menu and you will be supporting Maine families when they need it most. The Maine Lobster festival (August 2-6, 2023) will be free again next year. Follow our website for more details: https://mainelobsterfestival.com/ Reprinted from the Maine Lobster Festival blog.
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 Photo courtesy Maine Lobster Festival Note: This story originally appeared on Maine Lobster Festival's blog.
The 2021 battle of the pigskin will be held on Sunday, Feb. 7. Even though there may not be many big parties for the big game, it will still be a time to celebrate with close family and friends in your pod. If you want to go all out and wow your guests, here are some of our favorite game day party food recipes. The Classic Lobster Roll Nothing reminds us more of summer in the midst of a cold February day than sweet, tender chunks of fresh Maine lobster inside a warm, grilled split-top hot dog bun. Mainers are quite particular about how the “proper” lobster roll is done (as was hotly debated in one of our past blogs). A hearty portion of claw, tail and knuckle meat is mixed with mayonnaise, celery, and a dash of salt and pepper. Get the Classic Lobster Roll recipe. Lobster Salad Cups This version of a mini lobster roll is nestled in a Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry. Combine the same ingredients as the lobster roll above, but in smaller portions. Serve the cold lobster mixture atop the warm, golden puff pastry. One of the simplest, yet fancy snacks to make, these delicious appetizers are not going to last long on the platter. Get the Lobster Salad Cups recipe. Lobster Street Tacos Street-style tacos (traditionally served from carts or stands) have made a roaring comeback on the culinary scene. To give them an extra special Maine twist, use pre-cooked and picked lobster meat. With corn tortillas (three to a plate) as the carrier, top with traditional fillings such as pickled cabbage, radish, cilantro and a kick of fresh lime and avocado crema. Get the Lobster Street Tacos recipe. Lobster Bisque Fondue Think cheese and lobster don’t go together? (Lobster mac and cheese lovers will fight you on that). This delicious Game Day recipe takes a bit of work but presents an attractive platter when done. The key to the flavor is the lobster stock, so keep that leftover boiled water after the lobster is cooked. Use a 1-1/2 pounds or two small one-pound lobsters and combine with gruyere cheese, garlic, dry white wine, a little brandy and lemon. Keep warm in a crockpot or use a Sterno fuel can underneath and serve with cubed bread, colorful veggies and cold, cooked shrimp. Get the Lobster Bisque Fondue recipe. Fresh, live lobster is the only way to make these crowd-pleasing dishes. Buy local whenever possible. Here’s a list of reputable and trusted suppliers of Maine’s most famous crustacean. For more delicious Maine lobster recipes, our blogs are your go-to source for Maine’s most iconic dish. Be sure to keep this year’s Maine Lobster Festival Aug. 4-8 in your 2021 plans. As a reporter for a local newspaper, I often cover lobstering stories in Maine and occasionally come across some very cool things that Maine crafters and artists are making around the lobster theme. I really strive to put a spotlight on the creatives. Here is my 2020 Shop Local Gift Guide for the person in your life who loves Maine lobster and our beautiful state. The original Lobstah Beer Caddy and Dog Food Station
Joe Hamilton is the artist behind these lobster trap creations and the first in the state to create the lobster trap caddy, perfect for six of Maine's best craft beers. You can find these on Etsy for $39.99 The pet stand, also made from the same galvanized wire that lobstermen use to construct traps are custom made. Made for small, medium and large dogs ($60/$85/$150). Contact [email protected] for orders. Maine Snowflake Ornaments  Tenley is a self-taught jewlery designer who also once worked as a sternman on her boyfriend's lobster boat, (now husband!) Hating to see lobster shells thrown away after consumption, she got the idea to make beautiful ornaments and jewelry from discarded shells from lobsters, mussels and oysters--and tell the back story to each one as it related to area lobstermen. To find her creations ($25/ornaments and vibrant red jewelry visit her Etsy store, Lobster Designs. Rugged Lives of Female Lobstermen  Photo courtesy Ali Farell Camden author Ali Farell's second book, showcases the strength of Maine’s female fishermen, titled Pretty Rugged: True Stories From Women of the Sea. “Fishing is a lifestyle, not a job,” Farrell commented in a Penobscot Bay Pilot article. “To be a successful fisherman, you must devote your life to working extremely hard in very dangerous conditions.” The book is finally available for preorder on Amazon ($32.99) with shipments anticipated in time for Christmas. FMI: Facebook. Gourmet Lobster Crackers  Photo by Kay Stephens In 2012, Pat Havener and her husband, Friendship lobsterman Greg Havener, were trying to brainstorm ways to make up lost income from the plummeting price of lobster. They came up with two ideas: lobster crackers for dogs and lobster crackers for people. The crackers, which are the only type of its kind in the U.S., were named “Best New Product—Specialty Food” in spring of 2015 at the New England Made Giftware Specialty Food Show. See my story on at Penobscot Bay Pilot You can buy a box ($10) on their website Note: this story was originally published on Maine Lobster Festival's blog  Photo courtesy Maine Lobster Festival This Thanksgiving will look different for many people around the country, but one thing is constant: hard shell Maine lobster is plentiful in November and prices are very reasonable leading up to Christmas. Plus, lobster is one of the most historically traditional food sources other than turkey in New England. So choose one of the four following lobster dishes to bring as a guest, or serve them all for your own Thanksgiving meal. Soup Pumpkin Soup With Creole Lobster This recipe by Food and Wine Magazine promises a balance of deep, earthy flavor using produce in season (sugar pumpkins or butternut squash) as the base. A 1-pound lobster is all you need, along with dry white wine and 1/2-cup crème fraîche, complete with herbs and spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cumin and cayenne to give this dish its spicy Creole tang. This is a hearty, comfort-food opener to the rest of the meal. Get the Pumpkin Soup With Creole Lobster recipe. Appetizer Mini Brioche Lobster Rolls This easy hors d’oeuvre is simply an open-faced slider crossed with Maine’s most iconic lobster roll, so make plenty, because they will be scooped off the tray as soon as you put it down. Using 3/4-pound of chopped, cooked lobster meat, with a bit of mayonnaise, tarragon and lemon zest, this recipe needs nothing more than 12 mini brioche or Parker House rolls with the tops cut off to make a stunning presentation. Get the Mini Brioche Lobster Rolls recipe Entrée Stuffed Lobster Tails Native Americans and Pilgrims were most certainly dining on Maine lobster for the first Thanksgiving, namely because it was so easy to catch by wading into the shore. But you can gussy it up with this Cooking Light recipe by serving lobster tails stuffed with herbed breadcrumbs and a white wine reduction. This entrée is perfectly portioned for each person at the table. And even though it’s drizzled with a delicious wine, thyme and shallot sauce right at the end, this dish only tops out at 234 calories per tail. Get the Stuff Lobster Tails recipe. Side Dish Buttery Lobster and Bacon Stuffing For die-hard turkey lovers this November, you can still slip in the taste of Maine lobster with this stuffing recipe. With Jones Dairy Farm dry-aged cherrywood smoked bacon providing the salt, pan-seared onion and garlic giving off the savory, and 7 ounces of sweet, tender Maine lobster rounding it out, all you need is a piping hot baking dish of semolina bread cubes smothered in butter and the above ingredients to take center stage over that turkey at the table. Guaranteed. Get the Buttery Lobster and Bacon Stuffing recipe.  Anytime lobster is on the menu, people perk up and take notice, so what better way to impress your guests this Thanksgiving with recipes for a four-course lobster meal they’ll be remembering long past November? Soup Lobster Corn Chowder Corn, the quintessential fall harvest, pairs beautifully with succulent Maine lobster in this hot and tasty warm-up. Get farm-fresh corn if you can, and let the cobs and lobster shells do double-duty in a flavorful stock. With bacon, Yukon gold potatoes and cream sherry, this dish sets the stage for what’s to come, leaving your guests excited for more. Appetizer Lobster and Bacon-Stuffed Jalapeno Bites Talk about hot — this appetizer is one of the hottest (in a savory way) you can present this Thanksgiving — and so very easy to prepare. Lobster From Maine’s recipe calls for only eight ounces of lobster, which amounts to about two 1 ½ pound lobsters. With cream cheese, sizzling bacon and sour cream and chives rounding out the flavors, the hollowed-out jalapeno pepper serves as a vibrant and spicy bite. Entrée Lobster Newburg This delectable pocket of freshly-baked, buttery puff-pastry with creamy lobster inside will make guests think you spent hours on this dish, but it’s relatively simple. Crank up the slivered garlic in clarified butter with sautéed chopped onions and sliced mushrooms, then top off the rich flavors with the sherry, egg yolks, cream, nutmeg and cayenne and you’ve got an unforgettable dish that people will try to copy next year. Side Dish Lobster Risotto After steaming a couple of 1 ½ pound lobsters, you’ll be able to turn out a rich and creamy side dish for an elegant Thanksgiving dinner. Add the lobster tail shells to the broth for additional flavor and cut back on the cayenne and cream in this recipe to let the natural risotto texture shine through. Use any one of these star dishes (or all four!) for a memorable Thanksgiving. For more seasonal lobster dish recipes, visit our blog on the Maine Lobster Festival website. Blog and photo republished courtesy of Maine Lobster Festival
HISTORIC INNS OF ROCKLAND JOIN MAINE LOBSTER PROMOTION COUNCIL & PENOBSCOT BAY REGIONAL CHAMBER TO CELEBRATE LOBSTER HARVEST WITH LOBSTERPALOOZA
Mark August 26-31 on the calendar to celebrate all things lobster in Rockland & Camden Rockland, ME – Cheryl Michaelsen, owner of the Berry Manor Inn in Rockland, ME, couldn’t stand to sit by and watch on the sidelines as lobstermen and women in this Midcoast, Maine town caught near record lobster hauls while traditional Canadian markets rejected them. The result, as we all know, has meant prices have dropped while lobster remains in abundance this summer. Michaelsen turned to her fellow colleagues at the Historic Inns of Rockland and said “Let’s turn lobsters into Lobsteraid!” Lobsterpalooza was the brainstorm of the four progressive Historic Inns of Rockland who then enlisted support from the Maine Lobster Promotion Council and the Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce to raise enthusiasm for eating lobster and celebrating an abundant supply in the Midcoast this summer. Lobsterpalooza is a weeklong celebration of lobster taking place August 26-31 in Rockland, Camden and surrounding towns where businesses celebrate the lobster harvest with everything from a crustacean cash mob to featured specials, events and more. Lobsterpalooza is just one of the many events happening during the Maine Lobster Lovers Celebration, a promotion created by the Maine Lobster Promotion Council. “It makes sense that we’d hold Lobsterpalooza in Rockland and Camden,” said Michaelsen, “After all, we are the self-proclaimed lobster capital of the universe! This is our way of reminding residents and travelers alike how lucky we are to enjoy the abundant supply of lobster here this summer,” finished Michaelsen. To date nearly 40 restaurants, spas and retail stores have signed on to feature lobster for the Lobsterpalooza week with everything from a free lobster with special spa treatments at spas to a lobster off the boat from Captain Jack’s Lobster Adventures. The four Historic Inns of Rockland will feature lobster on the breakfast menu during Lobsterpalooza week, while offering specially discounted tickets for lobster adventures. A number of restaurants including Café Miranda, Sweets and Meats Market and In Good Company, Bricks Restaurant, Amalfi by the Water and many additional restaurants will feature new lobster entrees on the menu along with old favorites. Additionally, Crustacean Cash Mobs will be held at Jess’s Market on Tuesday, August 28th andShip to Shore Lobster Company in Owl’s Head on Thursday, , August 30th .. Cash mobs are the perfect way to support local, independent businesses, and in this case local fishermen. Simply plan to buy lobster on August 28th from Jess’s Market and August 30th from Owl’s Head’s Ship to Shore Lobster Co.. Additionally, Cellardoor Winery will feature a Lobster Lover’s cooking class on August 31 and All Aboard Trolley Company will offer a special “Nap-AH and Lob-STAH” Wine tour on Monday, August 27th . Lobsterpalooza will feature a drawing for a Lobster Lover’s Getaway to be enjoyed in June, 2013. Sign up to win at all participating businesses. No purchase is necessary and a winner will be drawn at the close of Lobsterpalooza week. The lucky winner will receive a grand prize June 2013 Lobster Lover’s Getaway including: · Two nights accommodations at a choice of four Historic Inns of Rockland, sometime in June 2013 · Breakfast each morning. · Two Got Lobster T-shirts, lobster hats and chocolate lobsters · Tour of Ship to Shore Lobster Company pound and lobster dinner for two on the docks · $50 gift certificate to Café Miranda for Lobster Mac n Cheese or choice of other lobster entrée · Two tickets for Captain Jack’s Lobster Adventure · A lobster lovers gift basket filled with offers and gift certificates from many other Rockland businesses (including Archers on the Pier, Waterworks Restaurant, Sweets and Meats, Clan MacLaren) Participating businesses will post Lobsterpalooza posters in the windows. Entry forms will be available at participating businesses and at Camden and Rockland visitor centers. Here’s the full line up of the events celebrating lobster during Lobsterpalooza: August 27: All Aboard Trolley Nap-AH and LOB-Stah Winery Tour – enjoy wine and lobster tastings. August 28: All day: Jess’s Market Cash Mob, Rockland– Plan to buy local to support local fishermen August 28: 2-3pm: Between Fact and Fiction: The Subculture of Maine Lobstermen, Breakwater Room at the Maine Lighthouse Museum: K. Stephens, a Midcoast author of The Ghost Trap will host a presentation/fiction reading about Maine's lobstermen. The Ghost Trap (Leapfrog Press, 2009) follows the haunting story of Jamie Eugley, a young lobsterman struggling with the grinding responsibilities of a head-injured fiancée and mounting trap wars in a fictional setting based around Tenants Harbor, Spruce Head, Port Cyde and Friendship. August 30: Ship to Shore Lobster Cash Mob, Owl’s Head – Plan to enjoy lobster today from this local lobster pound August 31: Oceanside Mariner Home Opener Lobster Industry Recognition at Half Time Lobster-Lovers Cooking Class at Cellardoor Winery (advanced reservations required)  photo: Eat Maine FB page Well folks, this is an interesting summer to be in Maine. Because of a glut of spring lobsters caught, an abysmally low price for the catch and the fact that lobster is now cheaper than freakin' bologna right now, we have what is called an unspoken "tie-up." This is a fascinating chess move where lobstermen up and down the coast refuse to go hauling, but are forbidden to collude or pressure anyone from going out. The few folks I've spoken to who will naturally remain anonymous say that despite what you may think, this has been very peaceful. No trap molestation, no underground wars. These people work HARD and they're getting screwed. So do your part, buy some lobster this week; let's run down this glut, run up the price so these guys can go out fishing again! I'm including a column by Working Waterfront's Philip Conkling here, which explains how this has all gone down. The Great Silent Lobster Tie UpJuly 12, 2012 Column Long View
by Philip Conkling This morning on Vinalhaven was eerily silent as the sky lightened in the east. No gulls keened, no ravens croaked and no muffled diesels thrummed on their way out of Carver’s Harbor. On the way to the morning ferry, little knots of lobstermen stood on the post office steps, in front of the Odd Fellows Hall and at the large parking lot where lobstermen park their trucks on their way to their boats. Related Looking out over the expanse of one of Maine’s premier lobster fishing harbors, you saw something you never see: the entire fleet at rest in the light air in early July. Eighty-one motionless lobster boats looked like a mirage. No one was at Bickford’s lobster station, no one at the Vinalhaven Co-op, no one at Linda’s Bean’s wharf, no one at Rocket’s float at the harbor entrance. No boat was tied up at Hopkins Boatyard; no one was loading bait or traps at the old crab factory. As the 7 a.m. ferry pulled away from its pen, another half dozen lobster boats were similarly frozen in place in Sands Cove, along with a dozen more in Old Harbor and a few others at Dyer Island. When the ferry passed through Lairy’s Narrows and churned its way across West Penobscot Bay, no North Haven lobster boats were hauling off Crabtree Point. All the way down the bay past the lobster harbors of Owls Head, the Weskeag, and Sprucehead, the horizon was completely empty, as was the case from Rockland to Rockport to Camden on the western shore. It would be an exaggeration to say that the scene was like the empty skies the day after 9-11, but there is a similarity. So how did this unprecedented cooperation among fishermen throughout a huge lobster fishing area happen? No one is saying, and for a good reason. It’s called the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which prohibits collusion among businesses on practices that influence price. Since virtually all Maine lobstermen are independent businessmen, the law theoretically prohibits any lobstermen from talking to another and agreeing not to go fishing. That’s called “restraint of trade” and led to the conviction of Leslie Dyer, the first head of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, in federal court in 1958. It was a thunderously unpopular verdict, but has left a bitter enough legacy during the last half century that even talkative lobstermen run silent and deep when it comes to any mention of tie up. The issue, however, is sensitive enough that Maine’s Commissioner of Marine Resources, Pat Kelliher, just released a statement cautioning any fishermen from issuing threats of force against any other fishermen who might continue to haul their traps. In the deafening silence of how the great silent lobster tie up has been be achieved, the “coconut wireless” has been unusually active. One such story is that a fisherman in one unnamed harbor hired a small plane to conduct surveillance to find out which boats were still fishing. Woe unto him. The real explanation for the unprecedented inactivity in lobster fishing communities along much of the Maine coast is both simple and complicated. The simple explanation is price. Lobsters that a year ago were fetching only $2.50 per pound—a historically low price for this time of year, have fallen in many harbors to as low as $1.50 per pound. Almost nothing in the universe can create unanimity among lobstermen, but lobster prices have not been at such a low point for approximately 30 years. With prices this low, it is simply not worth leaving the dock. The more complicated part of the story concerns why prices have plummeted to this abyssal level. And there the explanations are varied, each containing a piece of the truth. To begin with, the lobster shedder season started six weeks early this year in southern Maine after an eerie warm spell that lasted most of March. Lobster processors buy shedders to sell as claw and knuckle or lobster tail packs because they are cheaper than hard shells. Not only have the shedders come early, but their percentage of the landings has also increased—upwards of 70 percent in some harbors throughout May and June. Hard shell lobsters command as much as $2 more a pound than shedders, so typically in June, a lobstermen’s average price for his catch might hover around $3.50 per pound with a mix of shedders and hard shells. After the Fourth of July, when upwards of 90 percent of lobsters are shedders and their price is so depressed, well…you have to decide whether it is worth it to go fishing. Added to this unhappy state of affairs, is that a number of lobster processors in Atlantic Canada have gone under in recent years, which has further reduced the demand for Maine’s shedders. Canadian lobstermen, who only fish in early spring and late fall, also reportedly landed larger catches than usual and filled much of the existing Canadian demand. Then there is the state of the general economy. Few people realize that two of the biggest markets for Maine lobsters are the all-you-can-eat cruise lines and national restaurant chains like Red Lobster. The cruise lines have not distinguished themselves this year after the Costa Concordia ran aground in the Mediterranean and Seafood Business News recently published a story detailing how Red Lobster is overhauling its menu to appeal to more cost-conscious diners, which cannot bode well for the lobster industry. And now for the real kicker: after many decades of self-imposed lobster conservation measures by the lobster industry, the population of lobsters crawling about the bottom of every bay, sound, thorofare, and tidal river is at a historic high. Just when the demand for Maine lobsters has slackened, the supply has gone off the charts, with the inevitable result of declining prices. So lobstermen have to decide it they want to address the fundamental structural business issue they face: they fish hardest for lobsters when the seasonal prices are lowest. In the long run, prices are only affected either by increasing demand—a long and expensive process—or by reducing supply—a painful and discouraging process. There are no silver bullets. Almost three years ago, the governor’s lobster task force recommended a joint public-private strategy to invest in the “Maine” part of the state’s tarnished lobster brand, which has many imitators nationally (including fraudulent ones) and a lackluster reputation internationally. But lobstermen were just recovering from the shock of the onset of the Great Recession and balked at the recommendation of a five cent a pound levy on landed, brokered and processed lobsters to create a significant marketing and branding fund. The Lobster Advisory Council has recently resurrected a discussion about this strategy at meetings along the coast during the past month. With lobstermen caught between the pincher of low prices and the crusher of increased fuel and bait costs, few expect to see a groundswell of enthusiasm for making a new investment under current price conditions, which are unlikely to improve very much anytime soon, or to reduce fishing days during the shedder season or some combination thereof. But then, you have to ask yourself, when is it a good time to invest in your business and brand? If you did not invest when times were good and your wallet was fat, what will you do when your back is against the wall? Philip Conkling is President and Founder of the Island Institute based in Rockland, Maine. If this article tells you anything, lobstering is right up there with Alaskan crab fishing as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. 155 people died in the last decade on commercial fishing vessels nationally. Vessel disasters and crew members falling overboard were the leading causes of fatalities in this latest report. And at the end of this year, we just lost another one of our own Maine lobstermen when he got entangled in lobster line and was pulled overboard.
Maybe what I'm saying is patently obvious, but for so many people who came up this summer to specifically have their Maine lobster, I continue to post stories like these to show you exactly what goes into that steamed crustacean on that plate. It is a backbreaking, perilous profession and the men and women who are born into this life, work at it every day and put their lives at risk for this status symbol dish deserve a little attention for their efforts now and then. Great idea for the holidays! This Chef's Kitchen video shows you how to do up some extra steamed lobster from the night before into a breakfast hash topped with poached eggs. Watch the video   This Thanksgiving and holiday season--it's time to give the poor turkey a breather. It has been the culinary icon of holidays since we were all young enough to maneuver a crayon around all five fingers on construction paper and call it art.
I live in a state where the one culinary icon that symbolizes prosperity--the Maine lobster--is the one export we rely on to get entire communities through our economically stagnant winters. Like everyone else, Mainers are going on Year Three of The Great Recession. In a rural state as ours, where jobs are increasingly scare, it's scary. The boat price of lobsters historically used to be high enough to allow a lobsterman to work hard six or seven months of the year--and sustain him over the course of the winter 'til it was time to start again in the spring. Not in the last couple of years has this boat price per lobster been all that viable. I'm told, however, that this past season was "very good" and that "no one had a reason to complain." But does that mean even a good lobstering season will carry a fisherman financially through the That means the guy who busted his butt all summer and fall to catch lobsters is now prospecting ways to plow driveways for the winter or work part-time in factories or do any kind of odd job he can to pay the bills to get through the winter. It's not an easy or comfortable way to make a living--never was--but lobstering for so many is like farming--it's generationally taught and generationally ingrained. Once you're brought up in this lifestyle, you stick it out--through thick and thin. The Maine lobster is one of the most coveted, succulent products that Maine has to offer, from an industry that was conservation-minded before the concept of a "sustainable food movement" even existed. Even Red Lobster, is rolling out a new marketing angle to let their customers feel as though they are smack dab in the middle of Bar Harbor eating real Maine lobster--and not some rock lobster tails farmed in Malaysia. Though there is not one Red Lobster restaurant located in Maine, they do buy and serve Maine lobster, along with other farmed varieties. Still, if you've tasted the real thing, culled from the coldest, cleanest ocean waters in the U.S., you will know why Maine lobster has earned its incontestable reputation. So this holiday season, I'm making the case for Maine lobster and butter over turkey and giblets. (Go for the Maine crab and Maine shrimp while you're at it.) Some of my picks for the best places to buy lobster locally as well as to export to friends and family as gifts are as follows.
Feel free to comment on The Ghost Trap's Facebook page for places you recommend as well (I'm mostly listing Midcoast Maine). Let's keep this momentum going. Next post? Best original lobster recipes to use this holiday season. |
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